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Planning & Zoning Commission backs higher parkland dedication fee
Summary
The Missouri City Planning & Zoning Commission voted to approve an amendment to the parkland dedication ordinance that would raise the cash-in-lieu fee from $1,400 to $3,100 per dwelling unit, citing rising land and development costs; the measure will be forwarded to City Council for further consideration.
The Missouri City Planning & Zoning Commission voted on Jan. 14, 2026 to approve an amendment to the city's parkland dedication ordinance that raises the cash-in-lieu fee charged per dwelling unit from $1,400 to $3,100.
Donnie Hayes, the city's Parks and Recreation director, told commissioners the proposal reflects updated land-purchase data and adjustments for development costs. "We are currently proposing that this Parkland Dedication fee in lieu of go to $3,100," Hayes said, explaining the figure combining roughly a little over $1,000 per unit for land acquisition and just over $2,000 per unit for park development costs.
Hayes described two methods used to set the land component: a recent local land purchase (East Hampton, purchased just over $500,000) that produced a per-unit land figure of about $1,000, and an alternative method that adjusted 2015 land values by a sale-price multiplier; the department averaged those approaches to reach the land portion. For development costs, Hayes said the department adjusted a 2015 contractor estimate (about $152,000 per acre) by an inflation multiplier to reach a per-unit development figure of roughly $2,074.
Commissioners pressed staff on the methodology. One commissioner questioned the CPI multiplier used on presentation slides and noted federal BLS CPI series do not show a 115 percent change over 10 years; Hayes and another planning staff member clarified that CPI was applied to improvement values while local land-value changes were measured using sale-price multipliers rather than national CPI alone. The staff member said the BLS itself notes CPI is a poor proxy for raw land values and that the slide label could be clarified before City Council.
Commissioners also asked how the amendment would treat developers who propose on-site parks. Hayes said the parks department retains discretion to decline land offers in areas that already meet park standards and instead accept cash-in-lieu to focus on gaps and maintenance. "If we have an influx of park space in that area, we're not going to accept that land," Hayes said, adding that the department may require cash-in-lieu when it would better serve the city's system. Commissioners voiced concern that developers could lose the option to provide on-site parks if the department declines dedication in favor of cash.
Hayes said the proposal also formalizes that trails can count as land dedication (one mile of trail equals one acre for dedication purposes) and that the ordinance would route modest cash-in-lieu amounts ($10,000 or less) through the parks board and city manager rather than full council. He referenced benchmarking with peer cities and internal park-usage data: Hayes said MacNaughton Park saw a 30% drop in usage during a recent three-month closure after a vehicle incident, illustrating how improvements can change park utilization.
After discussion, the commission made and seconded a motion to approve the ordinance amendment; the chair called the vote and reported "motion carries." The transcript does not include a roll-call tally in the public record of this meeting. The commission's approval sends the measure on to the City Council for its consideration.
